Sermon Tone Analysis

To Live Again ( Revival)

2 chron 29.

To Live again....

Church need to Live again

Christian families need to live again

An awakening need to take place....

An old country preacher said

If all the sleeping folk will wake up—and all the lukewarm folk will fire up—and all the dishonest folk will confess up—and all the disgruntled folk will sweeten up—and the discouraged folk will look up—and all the estranged folk will make up—and all the gossipers will shut up—and all the dry bones will shake up—and all the true soldiers will stand up—and all the church members will pray up—then you will have a revival.

John Wesley: “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I will shake the world.”

Spiritual renewal is often associated with the present concept of "revival."

It was in the nineteenth century that Cotton Mather first used the word to describe a great awakening in the early Americas.

The word derives from the Latin revivere, "to live again," and was typically used to describe an old play that was brought back to a new generation of theater audiences.

The concept is closest to the Old Testament idea of renewal or restoration, found especially in the work of leaders such as Hezekiah and Josiah.

The story of King Josiah is probably the best illustration of revival in the Old Testament ().

Judah had fallen away from God, almost exclusively serving the idols of surrounding peoples.

When the Pentateuch is suddenly rediscovered, Josiah immediately calls the people back to this covenant, and institutes sweeping reforms throughout every institution in Israel.

Revival was possible because the lines were so clear-cut.

Judah had a past relationship with God it could return to, with the spiritual and political mechanisms in place to quickly restore this relationship to a central place in Israelite life.

They rebuilt what had decayed.

The reign of Hezekiah some 70 years earlier is one example that Josiah was likely aware of.

Through Hezekiah's devout commitment to God, a legacy of devotion was passed on.

I. Past Revealed

(, ; )

2 chron

Sanctification - to set apart for God’s use .....

The name Hezekiah in Hebrew means "God has strengthened."

This is appropriate, given the story of this uncommon king's life and reign.

As we will see, he emerges from the most unlikely background to rule with persistent godliness.

The thirteenth king of Judah since the northern and southern lands of Israel have been divided, Hezekiah stands in the Gospel of Matthew's lineage of Jesus Christ ( NKJV).

A careful study of Hezekiah's life will show us why God graced him with a messianic lineage.

His commitment to spiritual renewal in Israel makes him an appropriate predecessor to Christ.

A. A Wicked Father - read and comment

2 Chron 28.24-27

25.

And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.

27.

And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Surprisingly, the reign of Hezekiah begins with a father of unparalleled wickedness.

Ahaz never makes any effort at all to put Yahweh first in his life or in the administration of the kingdom (v. 1).

He boldly serves foreign gods, to the extent of calling for the manufacturing of Baal idols and the execution of child sacrifice (vv.

2-3).

This means that Hezekiah once had siblings whose lives were given over to pagan cults, most likely Molech, the god of death.

The ensuing chaos in the land leads Ahaz to make a treaty with Assyria - an aggressive nation that is quickly becoming a regional empire (v.

16).

This pressure fails to cause Ahaz to turn to Yahweh

Instead, he sacrifices all the more to the various gods of Damascus in Syria (v.

23).

He crosses a sacred line, however, when he incorporates the Temple's furnishings into these pagan rituals of worship (v.

24).

2 chron

He closes the Temple completely after ransacking it for its sacred vessels.

This is explicit religious syncretism - utilizing Yahweh's temple's furnishings in the worship of other gods.

For the worshipers of Yahweh still left, it was a ghastly crime.

Ahaz sees to it that this pagan worship takes place all over the city of Jerusalem, then moves outward with his campaign of sorcery (v.

25).

Your past was bad ...

Hezekiah Awakening (29:1-11)

(, is not included in the printed text.)

2 chron

1. Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem.

And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.

2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

3.

He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.

10.

Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

Because Hezekiah has reached adulthood, his reign will be characterized by getting things ordered in a hurry.

His father long forgotten, in verse 2 Hezekiah is identified with David - the greatest spiritual and political leader to ever emerge from the hills of Judah.

The language in verse 2 is deliberate as usual.

This connection to David is especially important.

It was the goal of every king after David to be identified with David.

In fact, even King Herod in the time of Jesus took pains to identify himself as the new ruler in the line and spirit of David.

A king's first action is indicative of his priorities.

look at verse 3

The business of leading a nation is multifaceted, so we can guess that kings ordered their time with care and precision, just like leaders today.

Therefore, the text wastes no time in letting us know what Hezekiah is passionate about.

He "opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them" (v.

3).

Hezekiah breaks with his father by reopening the doors to God's temple in Jerusalem - the same doors his father had tried to close for good.

This statement rang out to the kingdom of Judah loud and clear.

God would be the national priority again.

In the spirit of David, they were to put their trust in Yahweh.

Given that Ahaz reigned sixteen years, many of the Levites have never served in the Temple, even though they are from the priestly tribe.

II.

House Cleaned

Initially, making a covenant seems strange.

Didn't God forge an eternal covenant with Israel, and especially with David ()? Yes, so what is needed is not a new covenant, but a renewed covenant.

God's offer to bless Judah still stands; it is still based on covenant.

And this covenant still costs Judah something.

It costs unabashed and singular devotion to Yahweh, the one true God.

II.

ATONEMENT MADE ()

(, is not included in the printed text.)

2 chron 29.

2 chron 29

16.

And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord.

And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

17.

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

He has carefully apportioned the various ethnic groups descended from Levi to accomplish their respective work on the Temple.

But first, they ritually consecrate themselves in accordance with God's law.

Once they have consecrated themselves and their garments, the consecration of the Temple itself begins.

They work from the inside out, moving into the dilapidated inner court to make it ready to serve God and the people of Judah again.

We can imagine the emotion of the priests' duty, walking into the Temple, some of them perhaps for the first time.

How did it get this bad.....

Disgustingly, they find the Temple full of unclean things, all of which they haul to the Kidron Valley, probably for ceremonial burning or to drown in the Kidron River.

The work takes sixteen days: washing, praying, singing, and cleaning.

After the work is done, they joyfully report their progress to Hezekiah, who wants to know everything.

They explain each facet of the cleansing with him, ensuring that everything has been done properly and in order.

This purification even included the utensils for sacrifice - forks, bowls, bread plates, and the like.

Unsurprisingly, they mention wicked old Ahaz in their explanation to Hezekiah.

They have undone all that he did, providing a new day for Hezekiah and the kingdom of Judah.